It's my 1st harvest today . have questions???

[1Maconheiro]

Hello,

I am so stoked, Friday the 13th and today is 8 weeks that my White Widows has been flowering so today is Harvest day Yeepee! This is actually my first successfully grow/harvest so I have some questions... So i'm going to start by removing the big fan leaves...

1. Do I trim before or after drying the buds?

2. How long do I need to dry the buds before I can actually smoke them? Is there a quick way to dry some buds so I can smoke some ASAP? I've heard putting a couple buds on top of the HPS light for a couple hours works..any other suggestions?

3. What can you do with the fan leaves? What can you do with the stems? Is it worth saving for butter or hash or should I just put them in my compost pile?

 

[Hammerhead]

just because your at 8 weeks does not mean the plants are ready to harvest. I have only had 1 strain finish in that time. Make sure you have all milky tric's with some amber..

I trim all large fan leaves off then hang dry the plant until there dry to the touch around 6 days. Some people trim everything off when there still wet.. Do not put any buds on a HID bulb it will catch fire way to hot. If you want to quick dry you can put them in the sun or put them on top of a warm surface with airflow.


The trim can be saved to make Bubble hash/oil/Edibles

 

[Scrappy-doo]

Hey brother. Congrats on your first harvest!

1- most people trim before drying the buds

2- it's most common to hang your branches with buds on them for at least 4-5 days or longer depending on your climate. You hang them until they are crispy dry on the outside, then you cut them off the branches and put them into a jar to dry from the inside out. This lasts for another week. You gotta burp your jars daily till they're dry.

If you want to quick dry, I personally sometimes dry mine on top of my t-5 light fixture which dries them completely within a day or 2. I've also put mine in a paper bag and closed off the top and stuck a blowdrier in the end. That dries them real damn quick! It's best to dry them slowly though you'll get a way better end product.

3- Save your fan leaves. You can turn them into butter, or if you get some bubble bags you can make hash

 

[Guest304546]

Hello,

I am so stoked, Friday the 13th and today is 8 weeks that my White Widows has been flowering so today is Harvest day Yeepee! This is actually my first successfully grow/harvest so I have some questions... So i'm going to start by removing the big fan leaves...

first, congrats on your first harvest, you're gonna love smoking your owngrown, lol.

now, i'd strongly recommend you do some research on this topic as your questions show you have not done so yet and harvesting, drying and curing properly are as important as any aspect of your growing, ...for example, 8 weeks is only a rule of thumb and not so constant you can schedule your harvests by the calendar, instead you need to learn to recognize the signs of ripeness as all plants are individuals so each is unique and you need to learn how long each will take to finish.

what that means is you need to get either a handheld microscope or a jewlers loupe, and 30x is a good magnification, so you can examine the resin heads to determine ripeness, ...i don't have ANYTHING in my garden that finish's in 8 weeks.

1. Do I trim before or after drying the buds?

again, you'll want to do more research but the big fan leaves are only good for compost and should be trimmed BEFORE drying, ...if you research 'defoliation' you will learn to strip the fans before harvest.

2. How long do I need to dry the buds before I can actually smoke them? Is there a quick way to dry some buds so I can smoke some ASAP? I've heard putting a couple buds on top of the HPS light for a couple hours works..any other suggestions?

there are ways to quick dry buds but i'd not recommend you do this as HPS lights get HOT.

3. What can you do with the fan leaves? What can you do with the stems? Is it worth saving for butter or hash or should I just put them in my compost pile?

the fans and stems have almost no psycoactive ingredients and will make crappy budda so they are only good for the compost pile.

you need to remember that growing high quality ganja requires some skills so the more research you do on your own, the quicker you will aquire those skills, and the deeper your understanding will be.

AD

 

[Guest304546]

Hey brother. Congrats on your first harvest!

1- most people trim before drying the buds

2- it's most common to hang your branches with buds on them for at least 4-5 days or longer depending on your climate. You hang them until they are crispy dry on the outside, then you cut them off the branches and put them into a jar to dry from the inside out. This lasts for another week. You gotta burp your jars daily till they're dry.

If you want to quick dry, I personally sometimes dry mine on top of my t-5 light fixture which dries them completely within a day or 2. I've also put mine in a paper bag and closed off the top and stuck a blowdrier in the end. That dries them real damn quick! It's best to dry them slowly though you'll get a way better end product.

3- Save your fan leaves. You can turn them into butter, or if you get some bubble bags you can make hash

try some desicant packets, ...those envelopes of crystals you find in the boxs of all your electornics, ...they are made to absorb moisture and a few of them in a paper bag will dry a few buds in a couple days.

AD

 

[944s2]

just because your at 8 weeks does not mean the plants are ready to harvest. I have only had 1 strain finish in that time. Make sure you have all milky tric's with some amber..

I trim all large fan leaves off then hang dry the plant until there dry to the touch around 6 days. Some people trim everything off when there still wet.. Do not put any buds on a HID bulb it will catch fire way to hot. If you want to quick dry you can put them in the sun or put them on top of a warm surface with airflow.


The trim can be saved to make Bubble hash/oil/Edibles

hiy 1mac, wise words above from hammerhead, i never take much notice of what time is stated on the seeds info to which they finish, you need to check your trics,see what colour they are, 8 wks for a white widow to finish seems a tad quick [imho],seed finishing times are usually ball-park figs but good luck with your first harvest and well done,,, peace and safe growing s2

 

[Anti]

Most of the advise above is worth following. For quick drying, put buds on aluminum foil in the center of your oven and turn the oven on its lowest setting. Check it every 20 minutes or so. After an hour, I typically turn the oven off, leave it closed and let it sit another 30-60 minutes. I feel this is less destructive than direct sunlight or mivrowaving. It'll still taste like shit and won't burn as well as properly dried and cured nugs, but it'll get ya high.

I strip fan leaves at or before harvest then hang plants to dry for 3-5 days before manicuring and jarring the individual buds.

 

[FreedomFightr]

If this is your first harvest stay away from jars. You will end up molding up some meds. You should just cut them down. Cut all the BIG fan leaves off and hang them upside down to dry. Wait a few days until they are dry to the touch. Now cut them into smaller sections and place them in Brown paper bags. (groceries bags), Close them at the top. Let them sit in there for another 2 days and then start trimming. Placed the trim budz in another brown paper bag. When you can break a nug in half and the stem snaps then you can jar it or platic bag it.

 

[1Maconheiro]

Thanks for all the advise.. I guess i need to make sure my buds are ready, but I don't have a microscope or magnifying glass of any sort and in this part of Brasil that stuff is hard to find and super expensive.. is their any other way to make sure their ready? Can i zoom in on my 12mp digital camera to check the tric's? They sure look and smell ready.. big, fat, sticky buds with little brown hairs everywhere.... i'll try to post a picture during the day cycle.. Thanks for all the info...

 

[Anti]

If your camera has a macro setting, use that. A tripod or insanely steady hands will help. Make sure camera is set to take pics at highest resolution possible. Take many pics because most will be out of focus when you actually zoom in. Good luck.

 

[Guest304546]

Thanks for all the advise.. I guess i need to make sure my buds are ready, but I don't have a microscope or magnifying glass of any sort and in this part of Brasil that stuff is hard to find and super expensive.. is their any other way to make sure their ready? Can i zoom in on my 12mp digital camera to check the tric's? They sure look and smell ready.. big, fat, sticky buds with little brown hairs everywhere.... i'll try to post a picture during the day cycle.. Thanks for all the info...

hey man, i'd imagine amazon.com ships to Brazil?

if so here is a link.
http://www.amazon.com/Lighted-illum...42207396&sr=8-12&keywords=handheld+microscope

and here is a picture to help you see what to look for.

AD

 

[StellarP]

Another thought would be to trim a lower bud....as a tester...before chopping whole plant.(Maybe another at 9 weeks?)

Use this to help with drying/curing also,......as the advice above is spot on....everyone's climate is "unique" and will require tweaking to achieve YOUR goal.......sounds weird....but the plant will tell you.........Freedom Fighter is correct about the jars.....sometimes eagerness produces mold......better to learn from a nug than a whole plant. Enjoy.

To the first of many
Cheers
StellarP

 

[187020]

Back wen we had the widow we'd take her from 50(tastiest) to 70 (leave you in a drooling stupor). Enjoy that dank with peace homie!

 

[rives]

Congratulations on the grow. If you are going to order a microscope, order a hygrometer at the same time. Check out the following link - I've found it to give good results more consistently than anything else that I've done over the years. I hang dry for 4-5 days and then follow the guidelines in the linked thread.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237

 

[supermanlives]

everyone already gave ya advise . all i can add is enjoy your harvest

 

[MadBuddhaAbuser]

am I the only person on this forum who doesn't need a microscope to see if trics are clear/cloudy/amber?

 

[John Deere]

am I the only person on this forum who doesn't need a microscope to see if trics are clear/cloudy/amber?

Nope. Haven't used mine for a long time.

 

[Chunkypigs]

heres a good style cheap scope order extra batterys cause you will forget to turn it off.
I don't like the one linked to above myself, used it once, dropped it in the drawer.
http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Microscope-Jeweler-Magnifier-Adjustable/dp/B0053VJEL2/ref=pd_cp_hi_0
my two cents...
take the tops 1st and give the small stuff another week or more.
milky stalked trichs for the win.
I have no strains that finish in 8 either but I like ripe flowers...

if you are keeping the genetics I like to pick and label some 1 week apart and test it later see where my head prefers the effects. 8, 9, 10 weeks maybe 11 and 12 to really dial in your ideal ripeness...

Woo! Hoo! Congrats on your harvest!!!

 

[Hydro-Soil]

am I the only person on this forum who doesn't need a microscope to see if trics are clear/cloudy/amber?

I used to use a scope. I'm sure it's helped me figure out what to look for.

Now I harvest when it has that "Done" look.

One day it looks crystalline.... a week later it's frosty. A few days to a week and it's got a tinge of amber in that crystalline-frosty-goodness.

Breeder times are only approximate for me.

Stay Safe!

 

[1Maconheiro]

Thanks for all the feedback guys i'm investing in a 30x magnifying glass.. this White Widow grow I was flowering 5 plants 1mother and 4 of her clones. So I harvested 2 clones at 56 days and the mother at 60days, i'm planning to harvest the other 2 clones at 70 days or more. Hopefully this will give me a different feel, taste of the cannabis at different harvest times.... So i'm posting some pics of my 1st successfully harvest this is the mother plant harvested at 60days...

Here she is.. isn't she beautiful... almost didn't want to cut her down